ResolvedThe problem of tens of thousands of prostitutes in brothels
Shanghai has been reborn, but at the intersection of the bustling Bund Nanjing Road, a history of brothels is still shocking. Today, in this square that witnessed the exploits of the first mayor of Shanghai, Marshal of New China, the bronze statue of Marshal stands among them, becoming a permanent memorial of the people of Shanghai to him.
On May 27, 1949, Shanghai was liberated, and Marshal **, as the commander and political commissar of the Third Field Army of the People's Liberation Army, served as the mayor of Shanghai and the director of the Shanghai Municipal Military Management Commission.
However, at the beginning of the liberation of Shanghai, the situation was extremely complicated, the remnants of imperialism and capitalism were still entrenched in all corners of the city, and the three major problems of "pornography, gambling, and drugs" in society were still serious.
Among them, brothels are the most serious problem among the "three evils". At that time, the gentlemen on the ten-mile field, drunk and dreaming of death, prostitution and gambling, are their true portrayal.
According to statistics, at the time of liberation, there were 525 registered brothels in Shanghai, and more than 2,200 prostitutes were licensed to operate. But these data are only a part of the people of Shanghai, in fact, the number of prostitutes who operate without a license is several times this.
Although the shadow of history remains, Shanghai has managed to come out of the shadow of the past. The square and the statue of the marshal have become the people of Shanghai to reflect on the past and their firm belief in the future.
* One night in the early days of the liberation of Shanghai, he went to the stage to watch a play, and his guard Xiao Wang was in charge of guarding the alley next to him. Suddenly, a young girl of sixteen or seventeen years old came out of the shadow of the street lamp, grabbed Xiao Wang's clothes, and asked him if he needed to sleep with him, two pounds a night.
Xiao Wang was taken aback and instinctively shouted, and the little girl was startled and immediately ran into the alley. **After hearing Xiao Wang's report, I was shocked and sad. What shocked me was the prostitution industry in Shanghai, which was not felt in the sun during the day and filled the streets at night.
It's sad that such a young girl came out to do a leather and meat business, and it was shocking that she could sell her body just for two dollars. ** Make up your mind to completely solve the problem of brothels and prostitutes in Shanghai, so that these runaway women can embark on a new path in life.
However, when he delved into the history and current situation of Shanghai's huge social problem, he was deeply shocked by the darkness, brutality and ugliness that it concealed.
The brothels of old Shanghai were a product of urban development and a reflection of the "needs" of imperialism. According to statistics, in 1935, there may have been 60,000 to 100,000 "licensed" and "unlicensed" prostitutes in Shanghai, which means that one in every 30 women was a runaway woman.
These women are widely used, including local poor women, trafficked girls and migrant households, of which trafficked and forced people account for the majority.
What is infuriating is that ** not only does not intervene in this, but condones and protects it, arranging a place for imperialism to "have fun".
The local ruffians and hooligans of the Green and Red Gang use brothels as their main protection money**, and prostitutes are the existence at the bottom of society and are bullied. Their fate inside the brothel was even more tragic, even for the highest rank"Changsan Tangzi", and it is difficult to escape the debt and tragic ending.
Only a very small number of people can change their fate by being fostered by high-ranking officials or opening their own brothels, otherwise they can only be reduced to second- and third-class prostitutes in old age and decay, and finally spend the rest of their lives in poverty and disease. "
For prostitutes, even being fostered is a stressful experience, leading to suicide in many cases. The relatively low-grade "unitary" brothels have cramped rooms and a pungent musty smell, not to mention the worse "salted meat village" and the "saltwater girl" who specializes in serving foreign soldiers.
These prostitutes have no income**, are often bullied and abused by bandits and hooligans, and have no access to legal aid. Some prostitutes were even tortured to death by their bosses because they could not get the opportunity to have an abortion and **.
The former "Salon Meat Village" II has now become a witness to history. The cruelty of the old society reduced people to tools, but the arrival of the new society turned ghosts into people.
However, in the brothels of the past, people were not really respected. Once prostitutes enter, they become profiteering tools for bustards and bosses. They use "** in exchange for financial benefits, and prostitutes often sell their bodies for only a few dozen oceans.
What's more, some black-hearted bosses force prostitutes to pretend to be yellow flower girls in order to make money repeatedly. For those prostitutes who do not pick up customers, they are mercilessly punished.
Being starved, beaten or even *** is a common treatment they encounter. The harsh conditions inside the brothel are no less than those of the prison cells. Whipping, burning, kneeling on glass slags, pricking with steel needles, beating with large bamboo boards, and even being eaten by wild dogs thrown into the grave mountain, these things are not uncommon here.
In order to prevent prostitutes from earning enough money to redeem themselves, brothels also have various lewd routines, such as usury, luring them to take drugs, gambling, etc. Here, prostitutes are more like a prison with life sentences, they have no freedom and no dignity.
Most prostitutes have various venereal diseases, and prostitutes in inferior brothels receive eight clients a night and more than 200 guests a month. These guests have different identities and all kinds of people.
Sometimes, prostitutes are too sick to move and are forced to pick up customers. The bustard would tell them to smoke white powder to refresh themselves, and thus they became addicted to drugs. It's a part of their lives, and it's a reality they have to face.
However, despite how dark and cruel it all seemed, the arrival of a new society gave people hope. People began to reflect on their past behaviour and began to advocate for respect and human rights.
While the prostitutes of the past cannot be changed, their stories give us a glimpse of humanity and a glimmer of hope.
Pornography, gambling and drugs" are often the same, among which sexually transmitted diseases and ** diseases are the main causes of prostitutes' diseases. According to the containment inspection of **, nine and a half of the prostitutes in Shanghai had various venereal diseases.
Most of the owners of these brothels have a relationship with the black bosses, and they colluded with the ** filthy officials and foreign masters to do all the bad things of mutilating women. Even if someone dies in the brothel, they can be safe and sound because of the protection of "above".
The brothel is the darkest place in Shanghai, bringing together the best parts of human nature. To purge the brothel of the poison, it is necessary to start with these villains. In November 1949, the people of Shanghai promulgated the "Fourteen Articles" restricting the operation of brothels, stipulating many prohibitions on brothels.
In the early days of the founding of the People's Republic of China, in order to protect the rights and interests of vulnerable women, a series of new laws and policies were formulated to standardize the management of brothels in Shanghai. Under the Shanghai Municipal People's Court's declaration, it became illegal for brothels to collect ransom money, thus eliminating the restraint on the personal relationship of prostitutes by brothels.
At the same time, the Qinghong Gang and other feudal sectarian organizations collapsed one after another under the powerful blows of the People's Liberation Army, which greatly shocked the remnants of the evil forces in Shanghai. The public security department took an iron-fisted action to punish a group of brothel owners who committed heinous crimes, the most typical of which was a brothel owner suspected of more than 120 women from a good family.
Although the people of Shanghai have taken a series of tough measures to greatly reduce the living space of brothels, due to the wide distribution of secret prostitution, the temporary difficulty, and the existence of objective difficulties, the brothels have not been completely banned.
In addition, the lurking Kuomintang agents are also spreading rumors and trying to intimidate the women in the dust, making them close or resist the ** staff.
It took nearly a year for the city to search for and concentrate on one or two thousand women standing on the street, but the huge number of them was not all discovered. When Cao Man, director of the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau, went to mobilize them to turn around, they cried profusely, fear, doubt, and anxiety intertwined.
Some have been devastated and numb, believing themselves to be destined for fate; And some people are accustomed to easy money and become the representative of leisure and hard work. This further complicates the problem: the original intention was to save these women who had lost their footing, to teach them a new way of earning a living, to start a new life, rather than to push them back into society and return to their old jobs.
As a result, during the preparation for the decisive battle of "prostitution" in Shanghai, the number of brothels gradually decreased, and the number of prostitutes dropped significantly, from tens of thousands to less than 1,000. In November 1951, Shanghai held a mobilization meeting to completely ban prostitution, and firmly stated: "According to the instructions of ***, it is imperative to liberate prostitutes!" ”
On November 25, all the remaining 72 brothels in Shanghai were shut down, and the prostitution system was completely abolished in Shanghai. The last group of about 500 prostitutes was placed in correctional facilities.
At the Shanghai Women's Correctional Center, many of the delinquent women in custody were initially panicked and thought they were going to be sold, but this was not the case. They are placed in an environment free of handcuffs and shackles, with food and accommodation and facilities such as recreation rooms, infirmaries, nurseries, libraries and gardens.
Upon examination, most of these women were found to have various diseases, the most common of which was syphilis. But due to the lack of medical conditions, these diseases were considered terminal in the old society.
However, New China was not able to produce penicillin at that time, and it needed to be imported through Hong Kong and other channels, and the cost of these drugs was high. Nevertheless, in order to ensure the treatment of volunteers on the front line, it is necessary to ensure that penicillin, which is in short supply, is used at the front, so the pros and cons must be weighed when making decisions.
* In order to solve the problem of insufficient medicines for women who have lost their feet, it was decided to give penicillin to correctional facilities as a priority. Although this put him under great pressure and difficulties, he firmly believed that the ultimate goal of the revolution was to enable the Chinese people to live a good life, and that the bureaucratic compradors and imperialists could no longer be allowed to ride on the people's heads.
He resolutely said that no matter how bad the conditions are and how tight the medicine is, these female compatriots who have suffered unfortunate must be completely reborn. His decision reflects the determination and courage of the people, and also allows the determination and action of the international community and the women who have lost their footing.
The decision of the marshal to distribute penicillin, which is more expensive than **, to women who have lost their feet for treatment shocked everyone. For the runaway women who have never been seen as human beings, their lives have been turned upside down.
There was a woman who had been resold many times, and she thought that ** would send them to a correctional center to work as coolies, but she was wrong. When she was told by the doctor that she had early-stage uterine cancer and that the cost of the surgery was all covered by **, her heart was filled with gratitude.
In fact, the city has invested 180,000 yuan in STDs, and these expenses are only part of the solution to the problem of prostitution. The cost of the work is incalculable, but Marshal and his team don't care, they know that as long as these delinquent women can be treated with the respect and care they deserve, all the effort will be worth it.
Help them regain their dignity from being trampled on. Managers teach them literacy and culture so that they understand their rights as human beings and are not easily deceived.
Managers teach them to learn trades so that they can have a skill and not have to rely on hue to make a living in society in the future. Managers always recognise their progress and achievements in a timely manner in order to help them regain their self-confidence and feel that they can be independent.
For the women in the shelter, the money they earn by knitting sweaters, making socks, spinning yarn and working as childcare workers is all managed separately, and each one is given a receipt and taken with them when they leave, no longer worrying about being smuggled by the bustard.
As a result, the majority of the population in the correctional facilities worked enthusiastically, and a system of bonuses and piece-rate wages was introduced.
The station inspectors called us 'comrades', and like them, we were state workers. In fact, by about 1953, most of the delinquent people who had been taken in began to "graduate", returned to society, found serious jobs, started new lives, and some even got married and had children, and spent a happy old age.
Overall, the world was shocked by the successful transformation of prostitutes in New China, as many Western capitalist countries tried to ban prostitutes after World War II, but without success.
In all dynasties, except for the people's power led by ***, almost no *** has ever managed these poor people.
The problem of brothels and prostitution, although on the surface it seems to be a problem of governance and economy, is in essence a problem of human nature, social atmosphere and values. Only a proletarian revolutionary like Mr. Chen, who has a selfless and open-minded spirit, can accomplish this seemingly impossible task.
The old China turned people into ghosts, but the new China has succeeded in turning ghosts into people! This is the real respect and care for human beings, the real "human rights"!